52 Ancestors: Izory Gibson Livingston

For Mother's Day, I wanted to tell a story about my grandmother on my mother's side of the family. She was the only one I knew since my father's mother died before I was born. I mentioned my grandmother twice before in this blog (The Ghosts of Cope and The Easterling Family) but now is the time to tell about her life.

I wouldn't know the first thing about being a mother but I do know that it is full of love and sometimes sacrifice. You would want what is best for your family. I could only imagine that it is your children that is the only thing keeping you from giving up. So let me tell you about what my grandmother had to go through. 

Izory Gibson was born in May 1919 in Cope, Union Township, Orangeburg, SC. She was the youngest daughter born to Moses Gibson, a farmer and his 2nd wife Tenel Tyler-Gibson. Moses' first wife Mariah died around 1908 leaving 4 living children for Tenel to raise. Moses and Tenel had 8 children together over the next 10 years. Tragedy would strike several times as three of Izory's siblings died at a young age. Unfortunately on October 13, 1920 Tenel died of kidney trouble and high blood pressure. She is buried at Good Hope AME Church cemetery in Orangeburg.

When Moses married his 3rd wife, Lizzie, she didn't want to raise his other children. So the remaining children were sent to live with their relatives. Izory and a few of her young siblings went to live with their aunt Stella Tyler. Moses died of cardiac arrest on September 4, 1927. He is buried at Macedonia Baptist Church cemetery in Orangeburg. Izory was now an orphan.

That was just the beginning of her troubles. She was a pretty brown skinned girl with long natural hair. A lot of young men took interest in her. At 13, she had her first child with a neighborhood boy named Clarence Mack. The family convinced her that she was too young to be a mother. A relative, Mozelle Johnson, "adopted" her first daughter Catherine. Izory got married at the age of 16 to Jim Curry b. 1897 and in 1935 had her 2nd daughter, Jimmie Lou. Jim and Izory fought to get Catherine back and lost. The Johnson family refused to give her up. 

Jim Curry was a cousin of the Livingston family. They let him rent property and farm on their land in Cope. Jim Curry died suddenly in 1936. Izory was left with a child to raise. She had two children with William Livingston Jr. b. 1916 named Melvin b. 1938 and my mother Hester b. 1939. William wouldn't marry Izory. His mother Maud Livingston disliked Izory because she was not light-skinned.  His uncle, George Livingston b. 1894 actually married Izory in 1940. George was a farmer and a good provider for the family. He raised Jimmie Lou, Melvin and Hester like his own. The younger children never knew who their real father was. George and Izory would have 2 more children Dolly Mae b. 1944 and George Jr b. 1945 together. Izory tried again to reclaim her first child. Like always, Mozelle would not give Izory her daughter back. Ironically, only 2 of Izory's children, Melvin and Hester, were light-skinned and Maud would spend quality time with them. The others were not allowed at her house.

Once again, tragedy struck. George Livingston Sr. died of a heart attack out in the field on January 5, 1946. Melvin ran home to tell his mother. Izory informed William Livingston Sr., of the death of his brother. Enraged, William Sr and Maud threw Izory and her children off of the family property. She was treated like an outcast. George was buried at Mt. Zion Baptist Church cemetery. Luckily, for Izory, her childhood friend's mother took her and her children in to live for the next few years. 

Izory never dated another man. Instead, she got her own job working at a local grocery store. The eldest children took jobs as farmers and helped raise the younger ones. Life was hard but at least they had a home, clean clothes and enough food. Izora's sister, Stella Ann offered to move them all to Washington, DC with her but Izory couldn't bear to be so far away from her lost child Catherine. She finally accepted that her oldest had a better life without her. As the children grew, Izory insisted that they do not become farmers and strive for something greater. Jimmie Lou and Melvin got jobs in New York City and moved in 1955. Once they raised enough money, they sent for their mother and the rest of the young siblings. The family settled in Brooklyn, NY. They never returned to Cope. Izory would never see Catherine again.

After all her kids were married, life finally settled down to normal. Izory had time to focus all her love and attention on 12 grandchildren! My father owned and managed a brownstone in Brownsville, Brooklyn where Izory lived free of financial burdens for the rest of her life. There she helped raise all the grandkids until her death from breast cancer in May of 1976. She is buried in Plainlawn cemetery in Hicksville, NY with her daughter Jimmie Lou Curry.

My mother told me that after I was born, my grandmother took hold of me and basically cared for me like I was her child. I went everywhere with her. I have vivid memories of us going to the playground together with her pet dog. I was also by her bedside when she got ill. Years after her death I would have reoccuring dreams that my grandmother had left something valuable for me to find. I used to tell my mother that all the time. In the early 1990s, I insisted that we go to a Livingston-Wilkinson Family reunion for the first time. There, she ran into her long lost sister (pictured below are Hester and Catherine). The next year, my mother returned to Orangeburg and Catherine re-introduced her to her real father William Livingston Jr. He acknowledged that he was her father and left her a plot of land before he died. I guess the dream about my grandmother was right all along.

The surviving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Izory Livingston go every Mother's Day to her grave and pay our respects. I am looking forward to this year's visit. May she rest in paradise. She definitely earned it. 

52 Ancestors: "Big James" Young

My grandfather John James Young was born on April 30, 1899 in Goethe, Hampton County, SC. He would have been 115 years old had he lived this long. He was the youngest of 12 children born to Alfred and Charity Malery-Young. He always said he was born in an Indian reservation but I couldn't find a record of it. It was this rumor that made me uncover that our family is in fact of Creek Indian descent.

John James Young was raised by his sister, Ada Young-James, after the death of their parents in 1900. I haven't found out what killed both parents. Several of his brothers and sisters died at a young age as well. His siblings nicknamed him “Dugey” as an infant. It is likely he took the middle name of James to match his sister’s surname. He was known as John J. Young in 1910 Goethe, Hampton, SC census. John was also a World War I veteran just like his brother Zeke. After the War, he was employed as a truck driver for a seed store. At the age of 20, John first married Georganna Cole b. 1906 and had one daughter Mable Young in 1921 (She was the grandmother of the rapper Swizz Beatz). That relationship was short lived. In 1929, John married Frances Jackson b. 1909 in Charleston, SC. He met Frances through his sister Josephine Young-Jackson. Frances and Josephine were both nurses and Josephine also married a Jackson family member. Frances raised Mable in their household as one of her own.



By the 1930 census, John was known as James Sr. and resided in District 21, Charleston, SC with his wife Frances, daughter Mable and infant son James Young Jr. b. 1929. (Pictured below: He is affectionately known as Little James and granddad was Big James). During his employment as a truck driver, James Sr. was in an accident that left his right leg severely injured. He would walk with a limp for the rest of his life.



James Sr. was also a skilled carpenter. In 1930, he built a double home on his own for his family at 1407 Orrs Court in Charleston, SC. The Young family grew to add 4 more children including: my father William Young, Robert Young, John J. Young and Catherine Young-Dean. Every day James would gather wood and bricks to build the main and guesthouses over the period of several years. As his children grew up, they helped complete the Young family home. James became a chauffeur after the accident. Frances Young died of breast cancer on June 30, 1956 in Charleston, SC. Big James never remarried. James Young Sr. died of cancer on May 27, 1989 at the age of 90.

Happy Birthday Granddad!

Secrets and Lies: The Easterling Connection

One of my favorite films was Secrets and Lies. It was a lovely English film made in 1996 about a woman who gave her daughter up for adoption. Years later the daughter comes looking for her mother. The twist is that the daughter is black and the mother is white. So how does a white woman incorporate a bi-racial daughter into her new family and explain it to everyone?

I have sort of the same problem. This is part of the family THAT WE DON'T TALK ABOUT.

On my mother's side I have a missing branch. The entire Easterling family has been a thorn in my side since I have been doing research. Most of them are dead and the others are virtually unknown. No one wants to talk about it. This secret remained dead for decades. But I REFUSE to let it die. I need to know. As far as I know, I am the only one that has a theory to what is the actual TRUTH. And it is not pretty.

My great-grandmother Maude Easterling was born in June 1893 in the Hamlet of Union, Township of Cope, Orangeburg, South Carolina. By 1914, Maude married William Livingston Sr. in Cope Town. They had six children together including my grandfather William Livingston Jr. For some reason Maude suffered from mental illness. She died on January 21, 1942 in the state Lunatic Asylum in Columbia. There was no death record found for her in the State Archives or Department of Health. Maud is buried with her husband at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Cope. In addition, another son, Earl Livingston, also went insane after he returned from serving in World War II.

My mother told me that her grandmother was a mean person but she was always nice to her. That was because of her light skin. Maude was born a Mulatto. My mother is also very light skinned. But Maude treated my grandmother and her other children differently based on their darker skin color. That is a story for another day.

Rumor has it that Maude's mother was working as a maid and was seduced by a white man. She was either 15 or 16 when she first got pregnant so it might have been rape. I was told she ran off with several white men. She had six Mulatto children. The problem I have is that Maude's mother died before 1900 and the children were abandoned by their father. I cannot find a proper record of who this woman was, but I do know her surname. She was a BUSBY (BUZBY/BUSBEE). What I was told was that the alleged father was an EASTERLING. This was the old South, interracial relationships were taboo and being an unwed mother was also brought shame to the entire family. It is possible that this young woman suffered in her short life and died broken hearted. This might be where the mental illness began in that branch of family.

Once I started doing real research, this is what I found:
In the 1900 Union Township, Cope, Orangeburg, SC census, the orphans used the surname BUSBY and lived alone. In 1910, the orphans changed their surnames to EASTERLING and lived with their uncle Webster Busby b. 1881 and his wife.  By 1920, they were adults with their own families and gone their separate ways.

Luckily for me, I was able to purchase Webster's 1962 death certificate. He was the youngest of 13 children. His parents were William Busby b. 1832 and Margaret Lewis-Busby b. October 1845.
Their children were Webster, William, Queen, Harriett, Harriett Ann, Idella, Benjamin, Doci C., James Franklin, Cornelia, Ada and Effie. The Busby family were recorded as Black/Negro in the censuses from 1870 on up. I have saving a Busby ancestor story for another day!!

The orphan Mulatto grand-children were named:

·         Rosa Lee Busby Easterling, born August 1885 in Cope, Union, Orangeburg, SC. She was head of the household of her siblings in 1900 Union, Orangeburg, SC census. Rosa married a Black man named James Easterling b. 1878 in 1907. Rosa had a son named Robert Tremble b. 1911 in Georgia by another man. She may be the same Rosa Easterling that died in May 1975 in Elloree, Orangeburg, SC. I have to buy her death certificate to see if she is really a Busby.

·         Augustus Busby Easterling, born February 1888 in Cope, Union, Orangeburg, SC. He served in WWI. He married Jessie May Easterling b. 1894 and had a son William Roy Easterling on January 16, 1912 Orangeburg, SC. Augustus and his family relocated to 2355 N. Orkney Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after the war. William died in February 1989 in Philadelphia.

·         Maude Busby Easterling, born June 1893 in Cope, Union, Orangeburg, SC. My great-grandmother on my mother's side of the family.

·         Vivian Easterling, a male, born June 1890 in Cope, Union, Orangeburg, SC. I couldn't find anything on him.

·         William David Easterling, born January 1897 in Cope, Union, Orangeburg, SC. He moved to Durham, NC by the 1920 census. He was incarcerated in a NC prison.

·         Ollie Busby Easterling, born September 1892 in Cope, Union, Orangeburg, SC. She married Lawyer Johnson b. 1888 in 1911 District 46, Union, Orangeburg. Their children were Marion b. 1913, Vernon b. 1914, Lawyer Jr. b. 1916, Nancy b. 1920, Lucille b. 1921, Ollie M. b. 1923, Rosalie b. 1925, Walter b. 1927 and Lillian b. 1929. In 1910, Lawyer, his mother and siblings lived near the Busby and Easterling households. Ollie johnson died on April 29, 1931 in Orangeburg, SC of high blood pressure, a weak heart and bad kidneys. Her age was 41 (born 1890). Her death certificate listed parents as David Franklin and Leiza Busby.

Here is the problem. Margaret Busby's 1900 census stated she had 13 children which I named above. None of those kids was named  Leiza. Leiza might have been pronounced either Eliza or Louisa. None of that matches what I have. If this girl was 16 by time Rosa Lee was born, then her actual birth year was around 1869. That means she could have been Queen Busby who was born in 1869 Union, Orangeburg, SC as reported in the 1880 census. An interesting note is that Webster named one of his sons McQueen. So I am prone to believe that Queen and Leiza are one in the same. I do not know how or when she died. All I know is that her children were orphans in the 1900 census.

I really needed that 1890 census that was destroyed! It would have answered so many questions.

I also believe that Rosa adopted her siblings after she got married to James Easterling. That is why they took on the Easterling surname. Interestingly enough, James' father was named William Easterling b. 1842.

The only David Franklin I found was a black man born in 1861. He had a wife named Henrietta and a son David Jr b. 1879 in Union, Orangeburg, SC. So he might have been the father of the youngest Easterling child but I doubt if he was father to them all. I haven't been able to find another death certificate for any of the remaining siblings.

After I took my DNA test, I was still unable to determine who this missing father could have been. I have not found a descendant of the Black Easterlings that matches with me.

I had assumed that Leiza was a maid with the White Easterling family from that area. However I do not match with their known descendants.

It pisses me off that we believed this lie so long and went with it. A lot of people took this secret to their graves. I can understand the circumstances during that time and the strain it put on my family. I wish there was some way that they could have been spared the emotional trauma. I know it costed several people their lives, their freedom and their sanity. I just hope one day I can put their souls at rest when I find out the truth.

52 Ancestors: Meet Henry Murray

Out of the clear blue sky someone responded to a inquiry I made in the Ancestry.com message boards in 2008. By the end of the conversation I had found a new cousin! He shared with me something priceless, a painting of my 4x great grandfather, Henry Murray. I dont have many old photos of family members in the past so this painting I will treasure.

Henry Murray, was born in April 1835 in Walterboro, Bowen District, Colleton County, SC. He was the mulatto son of Peter and Peggy Murray. Peter Murray was also a mulatto, the son of the slaveowner John Murray and his slave Tinah. Being a mulatto had its privileges. Henry was an overseer at one of the six plantations owned by Charles Heyward. Henry's mother Peggy was a cook at the Pleasant Hill Plantation. In 1861, Henry married Julia Ann Wallace b. 1840 in Green Pond, Heyward Township, Colleton Co., SC. Julia kept house and raised their 9 children and grandchildren in Heyward until 1919. Henry also had a 2nd family with Rebecca Gadsen b. 1863.

Henry was enrolled in the militia of Blake, Colleton in 1869. Henry was a farmer of his own land in Verdier, Colleton Co., SC from 1870 to 1910. Henry died in 1910. 

A special thanks to Clarence Murray III and Melissa Ford for these pictures. 

Click here for the link to the Charles Heyward Plantations of Colleton, SC. The Heyward family kept a detailed list of slaves and ages by the end of the Civil War.

Know Your History, Know Yourself

AARP Long Island will host a genealogy event.

Saturday February 8th 

African American Museum and Center for Education and Applied Arts

110 Franklin Avenue 

Hempstead, NY 11550

Noon to 3:15pm

I'm Doing Me Today...

A friend today wished me a Happy Birthday and said "I know you are doing you today!" So Beverly Harper, you had me thinking, and yes this blog will be dedicated to ME!!

Wayne Xavier Young is the middle child of William Theodore Young and Hester Mae Livingston-Young. He was born on January 20^th, 1968 at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He was raised in Wyandanch, New York out on Long Island. There, Wayne became an artist and learned to play the trombone, baritone horn and sousaphone. He graduated 3^rd in his class at Wyandanch High School in 1986.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY BIRTHDAY SLIDESHOW (Thanks Timothy Jones!) 

Wayne Young was the recipient of a four-year scholarship to study engineering at the University of Rochester from the National Urban League. In 1991, he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester in New York. He also has a Master’s of Science and Technology in Energy Management from the New York Institute of Technology. His thesis was completed in 1997 on Cold Fusion as a Possible Energy Source.

Wayne Xavier Young has over 20 years experience in the energy industry in both the regulated and unregulated arenas. For the past few years, he has held several positions with utilities such as PSEG in New Jersey, Southern Company affiliates in Atlanta and Consolidated Edison in New York.  In 1996, Mr. Young received the Con Edison Environment Excellence Award for developing a company policy for the safe disposal of lamps and ballasts. In 1997, Con Edison bestowed him its Black Achiever in Industry Award.  

Wayne is also involved with charities. He was the President of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (2004 – 2005). He has served the Atlanta AABE Chapter as its past Vice President, Black Energy Awareness Month & Communications Chairperson and served on the AABE National Conference Planning and Technology Committees. On April 17, 2009 Wayne was awarded the AABE National Clarke E. Watson Chairman’s Cup for his work with the organization. Wayne has also volunteered his services to other charities such as the N.A.A.C.P., Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity and the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta.

So there you have it, part of my life in a blog, and the story continue as I write my 300 page book about my family. But TODAY it's all about ME. So please wish me a happy birthday today. Love you all. 

The Pearson Family - Their Lives and Legacy Lives On

I wanted to share how elated I was when I discovered the document that freed my 5x Great-Grandfather on my father's side, Richard Pearson. After finding this record, it opened a Pandora's box of information about my family including several more surnames that I added to my tree. In this branch, I can go back 10 generations and 350 years to the mid 1600s. It also confimed that several of my ancestors were free way before Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Not only that, I found how recent Pearson family members are doing positive things for the community in South Carolina through the legacy of Levi Pearson (pictured above).

Richard "Dick" Pearson was born in 1784 Sumter District, Clarendon County, SC. Dick was the son of Black Jamey and an unverified wife. So far I have narrowed it down to either Phoebe/Thebe (also may be known as Judy). Black Jamey purchased his son Dick, age 15, from slave owner James Pearson for 68 pounds sterling on September 14, 1799 in Sumter. Today, that would be equivalent to $112.02 US dollars. Black Jamey freed his son Dick, age 28, on March 4, 1813 from slavery and bondage in Sumter. It was proved on March 19, 1813. Dick was employed as a planter in Sumter District and eventually purchased his own land there to farm on. The net value of the land was $750 in 1860. Richard was married to Eliza (maiden name unknown) b. 1785. Dick was head of a household of 12 in 1840 Clarendon, SC census. So far I know of 12 known offspring including my 4x Great-Grandmother Eliza Pearson-Jackson born in 1818. He and his family continued to be considered Free Persons of Color in the 1850 Sumter and 1860 Clarendon censuses.  

I found this on the Afrigeneas website:

Pearson-SC-1813 Deed of James Pearson of Sumter buying and freeing his son 1813 Sumter County SC deed book D, p. 160- 163 State of South Carolina Clarendon County Know all men by these presesnts that I James PEARSON of the State and County aforesaid, have bargained and sold any there presents do bargain and sell unto BLACK FREE JAMEY of the State and County aforesaid, a certain likely negro boy named DICK, aged fifteen years for and in consideration of the sum of sixty eight pounds sterling to me in hand paid before the sealing and delivery of these presents the receipt where of is herby acknowledged, which Negro boy DICK , I the said James Pearson do foreever warrant and defend from the just claims of all manner of Person or Persons unto the said FREE JAMEY his Heirs, Exors, or Administrators or Assigns forever. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fourteenth day of September on thousand seven hundred and ninety nine, and of the Independence of the United States of North America the twenty fourth. Signed Sealed adn Delivered JAMES PEARSON in the Presence of Issac Conner Robert Dingle Originally recorded Nov 25th 1799, now 19 March 1813 South Carolina Sumter District To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting Know ye that I JAMES PEARSON otherwise called FREE JEMMY, of Clarendon county, in the District and State aforesdaid, for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar to me in hand paid at and before the sealing and delivery of these presents, and for divers other good causes and considerations me thereunto moving, have emancipated, manumitted, and set free, a certain negro man slave (being my son) named DICK about twenty eight years of age and from all manner of bondage and slavery, whatsoever. To have and to hold the said manumission and freedom unto the said DICK forever, in as ample a manner to all intents and purposes as any other slave heretofore set free and discharged from the bonds of slavery may or can have, hold or enjoy, so that I the said JAMES PEARSON my executors, administrators or assigns, nor any other person for me or in my name, or to my or their use, shall or may herafter, claim challenge, or demand in any manner of right, title, claim or demand of, in and to the said DICK, or any service from him the said DICK during his natural life. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fourth day March in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred and thirteen, and in the thrity seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America. Signed, sealed and delivered James (his X mark) Pearson in the presence of Samuel Richbourg South Carolina Sumter District Personally appeared Samuel Richbourg who being duly sworn desposeth that he saw James Pearson (by making his mark) sign the above instrument or writing, and deliver the same as his act and deed for the uses, intents, and purposes therein mentioned Sworn to before me this 4th March 1813 Claudius Richbourg J.Q. Samuel Richbourh South Carolina Sumter District We do hereby certify that upon the examination of oath of James Pearson the owner of a certain negro man slave named DICK, satisfactory proof had been given to us that the said DICK is not of bad character, and is capable of gaining a livelihood by honest means Claudius Richbourg J.Q. John H. Ragin Michl Wilder James Ragin Henry Bradham Nathl Richbourg recorded 19 March 1813

I also noted that one of Dick's daughters, Adrianna b. 1841 married Moses Dingle Jr. b. 1841. The Dingle family were freed Blacks formerly the property of Robert Dingle. He was a witness in the sale of Dick to his father Free Jemmy back in 1799. After 13 years, the father emancipated his son. Free Jemmy and his offspring take the surname Pearson. In the mid 1800s, A community of freed Blacks grew in the Sumter District that included the Pearson, Jackson, Canty, Montgomery, Dingle, Carter and Durant families.

Now lets talk about my 6x Great-Grandfather Black Jamey (Free Jemmy) aka James Pearson. 

James Pearson, born 1759 Bertie County, NC was the son of Mary James and Jim (see Free African Americans website). James was bound to John Pearson in the 1761 Bertie court. In the October 6, 1783 will of William Pearson, Camden District, SumterCo., SC, he frees Jem (aka James “Black Jamey” Pearson) from North Carolina and gives him 20 acres of land. Two Negro wenches with children remained slaves. Thebe (Phebe) and her two children Doll and Moses along with Moriah and her three children Prince, Manser and Lucretia became slaves of widow Darcas (Dorcas) Pearson-Coe, sister of William Pearson. David Shorter, esq., was named legal guardian of Jamey. Jamey then set out to free his family. On January 1, 1790 Sumter, SC Black Jamey (Jim or Free Jemmy) purchased a Negro woman named Judy and her child Phoebe. Judy might be the same person as Phebe/Thebe. Another child was Albert Pearson b. 1808 who lived with his brother Richard in 1850. In 1800, David also helped Jamey purchase 200 acres of land in Clarendon, Sumter Co., SC from William and Mary Dreggars. The Dreggars were also free persons of color that also went by Driggers. 

The following was taken from freeafricanamericans.com:

My 7x Great-Grandparents:

Mary “Poll” James, born 1741 Norfolk County, VA was the daughter of Andrew and Ann James. She was taxable in Andrew James' Bertie County, North Carolina household in the 1763 list of John Hill. In the undated (1772?) list of Humphrey Hardy she was a "Mulatto" head of her own household, taxed on herself and "husband Jim." This Jim might have been James Brumagen Jr. Mary and Jim’s children were:

·         Andrew James, born about 1756, "son of Poll James (and Base Born)," ordered bound to John Pearson by the July 1761 Bertie court [Haun, Bertie County Court Minutes, II:538]. He was taxable in Ephraim Weston's household in the 1768 list of Humphrey Nichols as "Andrew J____ free." He married Janey Drury on February 24, 1784 Bertie County bond with his uncle Benjamin James as  bondsman. Andrew was head of a Bertie County household of 4 "other free" in 1790 [NC:13], 6 in 1800 [NC:56], and 6 in 1810 [NC:166].

·         James Pearson, born 1759 Bertie County, NC. This is Black Jamey.

·         Dorcas James, born about 1760, "3 year old orphan of Mary," was bound to Arthur Williams (William Pearson married Elizabeth Williams) in 1763. The February 1777 Bertie court ordered her bound to Mrs. Pearson, she having had a child while in servitude [Haun, Bertie County Court Minutes, IV:241]. That child was Sarah/ Sall, born about 1777, bound to Sarah Clark on August 21, 1786 [Haun, Bertie County Court Minutes, V:598].

·         Elizabeth/ Bett James, born about 1762, "Mulattoe ... of Mary," ordered bound to John Pearson by the May 1764 Bertie court. She was fifteen years old when she was bound to Mrs. Pearson in August 1777 [Haun, Bertie County Court Minutes, III:668; IV:241].

More of my ancestors were on freeafricanamericans.com:

My 8x Great-Grandparents were Andrew James b. 1710 and Ann Punch-James b. 1715. Andrew was born in Pitt County, NC.
My 9x Great-Grandfather was Absolom James b. 1680 from Bertie County, NC. Absolom owned land in Pitt Co. NC. His wife’s name is unknown.
My 10x Great-Grandparents were Andrew James b. 1650 and Elizabeth Langston b. 1660. Both Andrew and Elizabeth received their freedom in the wills of their former masters. Both were probably born in Africa but no records as of where have been found.

Thanks to Paul Heinegg's website I was able to get more information on the James, Punch, Brumagen and Langston branches of my family.

While doing my Pearson research I stumbled upon a scholarship foundation from the Pearson family of Clarendon County. The Levi Pearson Scholarship Fund is committed to help shape and mold Clarendon County youths into sound citizens, people of good moral character and high integrity by means of higher education. The pictures in this blog include Levi Pearson (1892-1970) and his sister Lucille Pearson, who were instrumental in the Pearson vs Clarendon County 1947 case to provide bus transportation to Black students in the county. We even have a highway interchange named after the Pearsons. View photos by clicking here.

It makes me proud to be a part of a family that worked hard to ensure that their family was free years before emancipation and continues to be a positive force in the community.